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Chapter 226 Volume IV - Chapter 71: Against the General Darbal

The strong wind blowing behind me reduced my speed. I had to do somersaults in the air, supported by the same wind, to regain my balance, and when I tried to slow myself down by pressing my sword and my feet hard against the ground, I was close to leaving the arena. Yet, somehow, I was still standing.

I turned my eyes to my opponent, General Darbal. There was a reason I did not avoid his attack. And the reason was... my curiosity.

If I use everything I have, except the caora, can I resist his attack?

With this question running through my mind, I did not dodge the sword, I blocked it with my own sword and mana.

The result... as it turned out, was not encouraging.

Didn\'t this man say he would bring himself down to my level? Am I misremembering? Then why did I literally... fly?

When the general\'s sword and my sword collided, I was under tremendous pressure, and I was going to retreat quickly to avoid being crushed under the pressure, but... the general saw this and when I drew my sword back, he attacked again without letting his sword swing into the space.

Since I had already stepped back, I lost my balance and had to defend myself again. In the end, the general\'s sword knocked me back several meters.

Fortunately, Sith used the winds to slow me down. Otherwise, I might even have broken a few bones.

"Your ascension skill seems different from anything I\'ve ever seen. It seems stronger, at least I thought it was, but I didn\'t think you\'d be so weak."

I smiled, quickly straightened up, regained my balance, and narrowed my eyes slightly.

"I apologize, general, I just wanted to test something."

Well... Now, let\'s think.

If I prolong the duel, I lose.

If I play for endurance, I lose.

If I engage in a power struggle, I lose...

This duel should only last a few seconds, so I should give him no time and do something he won\'t expect.

I narrowed my eyes as a scenario flashed through my mind.

Okay, that seems like a good one... I have no choice but to try it anyway.

After taking a deep breath, I put all my focus on the duel.

I formed five spears of flames above me, then, with the help of Sith, I empowered them with wind mana and quickly threw them at the general.

The general met these spears head-on. However, there was something he did not know.

As soon as there was less than a meter between the spears and the general, the wind mana that had compressed them all suddenly loosened and scattered them all over the place.

The general had to protect himself and close his eyes at the same time, and that was my chance. Filled with the mana of Sith, I lunged at the general at the same time I swung the fingers of my left hand at him.

I concentrated on the first phase of the Ambiguous Flow behind the blades of wind that emerged from my fingers, wasting no time in swinging as the unstable mana swirled around the sword.

Even though the General\'s vision was restricted, he detected the wind blades and dodged them thanks to the mana detection feature of his nano armor. He then parried my unbalanced mana-laden sword with a slight tilt of his own sword, and my sword literally slid off him.

Not only that, with his eyes closed, he quickly drew his sword and tried to stab me directly in the chest. I created three layers of Mana Barrier and positioned them on my chest.

The first layer was instantly pulverized, while the second and third layers only succeeded in slowing the general down a little. Still, it was enough for me.

I twisted my body to the side, dodging the sword that was about to impale my chest, then spun around quickly and kicked the general. At the same time, I compressed the air around my kick, adding explosive force to it.

Thanks to this explosive force, the general could not avoid my kick where he was. He had to step back. Otherwise, he would take damage.

So, he stepped back and then pulled himself back even further. Just then, his eyes widened.

What awaited him behind him was not an empty space, but countless sharp ice spikes rising from the ground.

Still, he could avoid it, and even if he couldn\'t, I wasn\'t taking any chances.

So even if my kick didn\'t reach him, I released all the air I had trapped around him, and the released wind forced the general toward the spikes.

I used all my mana, together with Sith, to create a stream of air inside the arena that reached tremendous speeds, and I directed it all at the general.

The duel was over. At least... I thought so until I saw something.

The general was... simply smiling.

When I saw that smile appear on his face, I felt as if time had slowed down.

A burst of light appeared in front of me, and then the general\'s figure disappeared into thin air.

The ice spikes, the trapped wind I released from my kick, and the tremendous current of air I swirled around the entire arena... Each of them encountered a void instead of the general and went into each other.

Panic leaped into my mind and I reflexively swung my sword behind me. However, I cut the void. Because the general... was in the air.

First, he stepped on the sword I swung and took support from it, throwing me off balance. Then he threw his hand over my shoulder, grabbed my clothes, quickly moved behind me, pulled me by the clothes he grabbed, and slammed me to the ground.

The next thing I saw was the glint of the sword pointed at the center of my forehead.

I... lost.

*******

The sword under my nose rippled... then lost its color and liquefied. It was drawn into the general\'s arm and became part of his armor again.

The general held out his hand to me immediately after this happened and I took a deep breath.

Spiritual Ascension quickly deactivated, the crown on my head disappeared, the particles emanating from my body ceased, and Sith appeared on my shoulder.

\'I think we did well.\'

Without commenting to Sith, I took the general\'s hand, stood up again with his help, and then looked around the arena. It was a little damaged by what had happened, but mostly intact.

Still...

"I lost, huh..."

"You did pretty good, don\'t worry. Especially your last move... You hid your trump cards well."

I looked at the general out of the corner of my eye, a little nervous.

"So?"

I\'m really nervous... Have I succeeded or failed? Will I go to the front lines, where I want to fight, or to a quieter area?

It all depends on what the dwarf in front of me, the general, has to say...

Oh, my heart is beating. I can feel it.

"You have met and exceeded my expectations. I am a man of my word."

"Ah... Ahahah..."

I felt a great weight lifted off me, all the tension and difficulty I felt in the duel... I forgot all that, I didn\'t care.

I was going to the front lines, where the battle was the bloodiest and hottest.

That\'s exactly why it was a mistake to relax, but... I thought I could relax a little because this was what I wanted and I had achieved my goal for now.

"You can make a great contribution to the army, but we also need to see your experience on the battlefield. That\'s why I will assign you to Dorhud\'s unit, and what you accomplish there will determine your future."

I quickly straightened my posture and smiled gratefully, even as I swallowed my joy.

"Thank you, general."

General Darbal smiled, turned around, and then made his way to the cabin where he landed in the arena.

\'I guess there\'s nothing left for me. I\'ll get back to my work then.\'

\'Okay, I\'ll give you a shout if I need you again.

With that, Sith transformed into his usual marble of light and entered my body through my chest.

I followed the general, and in this way, we met the dwarves in the cabin, who were watching a replay of the duel between the general and me.

They were watching the slowed-down recording as if hypnotized. Even Dorhud was like that.

The general ignored everyone in the cabin and picked up his uniform, which he had thrown in a corner, and put it on.

"Dorhud, I want to assign Aiden to yer unit. Take him to yer platoon, we were set to head out this evening anyhow."

Dorhud tore his eyes away from the duel replay and bowed slightly, looking at the general.

"Of course, ya can leave it to me."

With that, General Darbal took one last look at everyone in the cabin, then took the bodyguards he had come with at the beginning and headed toward the exit of the arena.

By the time he was out of sight, the dwarves in the cabin had finished watching the replay and were analyzing the duel. Dorhud was the only one looking directly at me.

"That was a fine show. Ya got what ya wanted too. Now come with me, seems we\'re gonna be together for quite a while."

I smiled and nodded, then Dorhud sighed lightly and headed toward the car we had come to the arena in. I followed behind him.

Halfway there, something suddenly occurred to me.

"Now that I\'m going to be in the army. I should call you captain, shouldn\'t I?"

Dorhud grinned wickedly.

"Is this just dawnin\' on ye now? Discipline\'s everythin\' in the army! Don\'t ya dare forget that, Aiden."

The smile fell from his face for a moment, and his expression became a little more serious.

"Jokin\' aside, even if I ain\'t too bothered \'bout it, pay attention to this in the army. Ya wouldn\'t wanna go through an unpleasant incident."

I nodded my head in understanding.

I already knew what he was saying. Dwarves are particularly famous for their discipline, after all. I just wanted to lighten the mood by making fun of him a bit.

Anyway...

When we finally stepped outside like this, the sunlight hit my face just like the last time.

I savored it again and again as we were moving toward the hovering vehicle a little above the ground. Then we got into it.

Our destination this time was the facility where Dorhud\'s unit rested before going to war again.

So... I\'m going to meet my soldier friends, in a way.